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Protestors find new way to give power to the people

06 Nov 2011 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The wise virgins described in this Sunday’s gospel made sure they had enough oil to keep their lamps lit. With their gas generators labeled a fire hazard and confiscated by authorities, Occupy Wall Street protestors in New York City’s Zuccotti Park have found a creative way to keep the lights on and laptops humming: bicycle pedal power. Keegan Stephan, a bike mechanic and environmentalist at the park site, has been pedaling a stationary bike to provide energy for the protesters' encampment. "People get really excited when they see these bikes," said George Pingeon, a bike tour guide involved with the effort. The bike is attached to a flywheel which in turn connects to a dynamo that creates energy that flows through a motor and a one-way diode to charge a battery. When fully charged--after about 6 hours of pedaling--the battery might provide power for around 100 hours, Stephan estimated. Protesters will drawn on this energy to run laptops, cell phones, and other devices. Stephan said he had made the machine over a year ago and had utilized it to operate the refrigerator in his apartment. He brought it to Zuccotti Park a few weeks ago to offer an example of how people might create their own power. Last Friday New York City police took away the gas-powered generators that the protesters--some of whom have slept in the park for more than a month--had been using. The Fire Department has said that storing large amounts of fuel in the park violates fire codes. Since then several other bikes have been added to the effort. "I'm going to ask the tourists if they want to help pedal," Pingeon said. Source: A blog post by Zachary Roth for The Lookout (Yahoo! News)

protests occupy wall street electric power bicycle power keegan stephan zuccotti park

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Japan’s nuclear nightmare continues

25 Aug 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Endure your trials as ‘discipline,’ ” encourages the second reading this Sunday. Japan has endured its share of trials since a massive earthquake and tsunami crippled a nuclear reactor two years ago, and the crisis appears to be escalating. The country’s nuclear watchdog now fears more storage tanks are leaking contaminated water.Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga called the situation "deplorable," and the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said it feared the disaster—the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier—was "in some respects" beyond the plant operator's ability to cope.Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco, the plant's operator, has been criticized for its failure to prepare for the disaster and has since been accused of covering up the extent of the problems at the plant. After months of denial, Tepco recently admitted that the plant was leaking contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean from trenches between the reactor buildings and the shoreline.It said on Tuesday that water with dangerously high levels of radiation also was leaking from a storage tank—the most serious problem in a series of recent mishaps, including power outages, contaminated workers, and other leaks.Japan’s NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka likened the stricken nuclear plant to a house of horrors at an amusement park. "I don't know if describing it this way is appropriate, but it's like a haunted house and, as I've said, mishaps keep happening one after the other," he told reporters. "We have to look into how we can reduce the risks and how to prevent it from becoming a fatal or serious incident."South Korea's Asiana Airlines said it would cancel charter flights between Seoul and Fukushima city in October due to public concerns over the radioactive water leaks. The city, around 37 miles from the nuclear facility and with a population of some 284,000, is a popular destination for golfers and tourists visiting nearby local hot springs and lakes.Homily hint: The debates for and against nuclear energy often come down to how confident we can be that humanity can build structures that can withstand nature’s destructive capacity. Our faith calls for responsible stewardship of the earth and its resources. With safe, clean, renewable energy resources gaining momentum every year, may the day soon arrive when taking the high stakes gamble on nuclear energy is no longer necessary. Source: An article by Kiyoshi Takenaka and James Topham for Reuters

nuclear power nuclear reactors shunichi tanaka nuclear regulation authority tepco tokyo electric power co fukushima yoshihide suga

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Power to the people

20 Apr 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

The right hand of the Lord has struck with power,” exclaims the psalmist this Easter Sunday, adding that “it is wonderful in our eyes.” Electrical power finally struck home for Margie and Alivin Tso Monday, after the Navajo Nation members who are in their 80s raised eight children to adulthood without it. And they say it's pretty wonderful finally to have it.Bringing up their family, the couple laundered clothes in a tub with a washboard and cooked on a wood stove. Their children did homework under the light of a kerosene or gas lamp and did not have television. At night the lights from a nearby power plant illuminated their ranch, but decades would pass before a power line was extended to their home.Their children "grew up a little bit on the rough side, and so did we along with them," Margie Tso said. "But we made it through, and now we're going to enjoy these lights."Electricity is considered a luxury in portions of the Navajo Nation. Across the 27,000 square-mile reservation that extends into Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah an estimated 15,000 homes do not have electricity, said Deenise Becenti, a spokeswoman for the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority.Some Navajos prefer not to have electricity to maintain a traditional lifestyle. Others live miles apart, making it too expensive to connect each home, Becenti said. “We can't ask families to live closer together, because they've lived on these lands for generations," she said.The lack of electricity has forced some Navajo residents to become creative, using small batteries to power televisions, solar power for lights, and generators for appliances. Laverne Etsitty and her husband Dennis have parked their truck close to their home so they could use the vehicle's battery and a power inverter to watch TV and charge their cellphones.Margie Tso says she is looking forward to reading more. But while they have electricity now, she said they still live without running water.Homily hint: The continent's first residents remain largely on the margins and often are the last to receive basic public services or access to conveniences of modern life that most of our own grandparents took for granted. Help raise awareness of those who have suffered from neglect and marginalization in our society. Source: An article by Felicia Fonseca for the Associated Press

electric power navajo nation

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